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Can You Prevent Cancer with Red Wine?

Could anything be more dreadful then having your doctor give you a diagnosis of cancer? Probably not. Still, who wants to chance it? There must be practical steps that can be taken to prevent it.

Folksy wisdom is always interesting, but rarely true. If you get a cold, should you starve it or feed it to get through it? Depends on who you are talking to. What about going for a dip after eating? Should you wait an hour? Nope, studies found it makes no difference.

In some cases, the rumor or rule of thumb has some basis in fact. Red wine, for instance, has often been touted as preventing certain forms of cancer. The basis for this has often been the country of France, where cancer rates are low and red wine is a favorite beverage.

As with many rumored situations, the issue of red wine and its preventative properties has been seeing some medical research. This research has resulted in some interesting findings. Red wine does, in fact, help prevent certain cancers.

Red wine is rich in phytochemcials, which are chemicals found in plants. In particular, the wine has a heavy concentration of polyphenols. Some of these polyphenos, such as catechins and resveratrol, have anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties.

The magic substance is found in the grapes, but not where you would expect. It is not the juice or pulp. Nope. The seeds and skins are the key. They contain polyphenols, which are anti-oxidants.

Polyphenols are important to your health because they protect cells. As an anti-oxidant, a polyphenol will block the damaging impact of free radicals. Free radicals can mutate the cells, their DNA and so on. This is one way cancer is believed to arise.

Red wine also contains high levels of resveratrol. Resveratrol is an interesting polyphenol. It is used by plants to defend themselves against disease. Resveratrol has been found to significantly inhibit cancerous tumor growth in animals.

Studies on causal relationships between drinking red wine and cancer are not yet definitive. They simply have not been underway for long enough. That being said, initial findings are positive.

The fear of most men is getting cancer in their prostate. It is a fairly aggressive form or cancer. Red wine appears to be helpful in preventing it. Drink 4 glasses of wine a week and you can cut the risk of it by up to 60 percent.

So, is red wine the cure-all for cancer? Probably not. Further tests will flesh out the details, but there is no denying that a glass of red wine a day will help fight come forms of cancer.